DRYDEN, JOHN

born Aug. 9 [Aug. 19, New Style], 1631, Aldwinkle, Northamptonshire, Eng. died May 1 , 1700, London English poet, dramatist, and literary critic who so dominated the literary scene of his day that it came to be known as the Age of Dryden. Additional reading The standard modern biography is Charles E. Ward, The Life of John Dryden (1961); it is complemented by James Anderson Winn, John Dryden and His World (1987). Other biographies include George McFadden, Dryden, The Public Writer, 16601685 (1978); David Hopkins, John Dryden (1986); and Paul Hammond, John Dryden: A Literary Life (1991). David Wykes, A Preface to Dryden (1977), is a general introduction to his life and works.The standard bibliographies of criticism are David J. Latt and Samuel Holt Monk, John Dryden: A Survey and Bibliography of Critical Studies, 18951974, rev. ed. (1976); and James M. Hall, John Dryden, A Reference Guide (1984). Critical studies include, on Dryden's poetry, Mark Van Doren, John Dryden: A Study of His Poetry, 3rd ed. (1946, reissued 1967); Arthur W. Hoffman, John Dryden's Imagery (1962); Alan Roper, Dryden's Poetic Kingdoms (1965); and Earl Miner, Dryden's Poetry (1967, reissued 1971); on his plays, Frank H. Moore, The Nobler Pleasure: Dryden's Comedy in Theory and Practice (1963); Arthur C. Kirsch, Dryden's Heroic Drama (1965, reissued 1972); and Bruce King, Dryden's Major Plays (1966); on his thought, Louis I. Bredvold, The Intellectual Milieu of John Dryden (1934, reissued 1966); and Philip Harth, Contexts of Dryden's Thought (1968); on his rhetoric, David Bywaters, Dryden in Revolutionary England (1991); and on his influences, David Bruce Kramer, The Imperial Dryden: The Poetics of Appropriation in Seventeenth-Century England (1994).